Sweat Bees (Halictidae)

Abstract

Many species of ants interact with seeds. These ant-plant interactions can be broadly categorized as either antagonistic (e.g., seed predation) or mutualistic (e.g., seed dispersal) in nature. The mutualistic process of ant-mediated seed dispersal is otherwise known as myrmecochory. This term was coined in 1906 by Swedish naturalist Sernander to describe the transport of seeds by ed wood ants (Formica rufa) in temperate European forests. Through careful observations, he noted that, unlike granivorous ▶ seed-harvesting ants, the red wood ants were attracted to the lipid-rich appendage (elaiosome) attached to the seed, rather than the seed itself. Despite this early revelation, further research into the phenomenon did not really begin in earnest until the early 1970s. Today we understand myrmecochory as a dynamic and diffuse ant-plant interaction between a relatively large and diverse array of ant and plant species worldwide. The process generally comprises at least three core phases (Fig.